State Capitalism in Belarus

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 77-85
Author(s):  
K. Rudy

The article deals with the sources, specific features and mechanisms of state capitalism in the Republic of Belarus. The analysis is based on the elements of the theories of economic transition, as well as those of public finance and administration. The author explains the factors that pushed independent Belarus to prefer the model of state capitalism. These include: Soviet Union heritage of planned economy and centralized public administration (that helped the Republic to successfully revive from the devastative consequences of fascist Germany’s occupation in 1941–1944), decisive role of big and rather modern industrial and agricultural enterprises in the national economy, public demand for building up a welfare state, well-established traditions of extensive financial support to the enterprises. State capitalism in Belarus identifies through budget consolidation, level of taxation and state-owned enterprises. The key instruments of this economic model are state-owned and private enterprises, commercial banks, Development Bank, Sovereign Wealth Fund. The author’s conclusion is, however, that relative efficiency of the Belarus’ model of state capitalism should not be overestimated. It works only with continuation of extensive public and financial support. Still, the main sources of the state capital are the market instruments. Thus, the existing model can be successful only in the short-term period. It mobilizes economy but limits its flexibility, So far, there is a high probability that Belarus faces a great risk to fall into a long-term institutional trap of conservation of its economic structure and steadily falling international competitiveness.

Author(s):  
Kiryl Rudy

Belarus’ economic model looked rather successful in the late 1990s and in the 2000s with its economic growth above 7% per year. But during the last decade, Belarusian annual economic growth has fallen at the average level around 1% per year. This chapter reveals the rarely known case of state capitalism in this post-Soviet country with its specific indicators, and instruments behind economic anemia. It also outlines several traps on the way of Belarusian economic growth: “debt trap,” “middle-income trap,” “social burden trap,” “resource curse trap,” “conflict neighbors trap,” and “forceful pressure trap.” These pitfalls lead to the long-term economic slowdown in the Republic of Belarus. The consequences of such economic anemia bring to another discussion about the role of public values in support of state capitalism in Belarus.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-149
Author(s):  
A.V. Surzhko ◽  

The article examines the main aspects of Soviet-Chinese cooperation in the field of sports after the normalization of bilateral relations in the late 1980s — early 1990s. Sport was one of the factors that contributed to overcoming the consequences of the thirty-year split between the USSR and the PRC at the state, regional and informal levels. During this period, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China actively exchanged numerous sports delegations, adopting each other's successful experience in organizing and conducting competitions, as well as training athletes. In the USSR, Chinese national sports were popularized, primarily wushu and ping-pong. More traditional for the Soviet side was football, matches in which Soviet and Chinese athletes repeatedly played. Also, the article reveals some economic aspects of sports bilateral cooperation. A common thing for this period was the conclusion of various kinds of agreements and contracts at the interregional level, including those related to the sports component. The personal role of regional party functionaries, sports officials and athletes in the development of Soviet-Chinese relations is shown. There is a certain continuity between the perestroika period and the "golden age" of Soviet-Chinese cooperation in the 1950s. The experience of cooperation in sports gained at the end of perestroika had a beneficial effect on the development of Russian-Chinese relations in the 1990s. The study is carried out on the example of the Irkutsk region, which, due to objective reasons, has developed long-term and strong relations with a number of Chinese cities. The main source of the research was the Irkutsk regional periodicals.


2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Craig

Abstract The precise form of internalization of the provisions of the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in domestic law is crucial in ensuring its long-term effectiveness. Experiences in the Western Balkans raise important questions about the role of minority (or community) rights legislation in deeply divided societies. This article uses the case-studies of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and the Republic of North Macedonia to highlight key themes and limitations that have emerged. Comparative analysis reveals a surprising divergence of approaches to internalization in the region. The article further demonstrates that the ‘nation-cum-state paradigm’ remains prevalent, despite the premise of universality. It argues that such legislation can play an important symbolic and practical role, but that legal internalization needs to be seen as an ongoing process. It concludes that attention needs to be given to ensuring the continued particularization and adaptation of such legislation in light of both the limitations and changing circumstances, providing a key lesson also for other divided societies.


2000 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-316
Author(s):  

AbstractInternational legal practice in the 20th century is rich in challenging cases of state continuity and extinction. One of those cases is the preservation of the continuity of the Baltic states throughout 51 years of foreign occupation and annexation. After decades of non-recognition of Soviet annexation by leading Western powers, the present-day Baltic republics have not been seen as successor states of the Soviet Union, but as identical with the independent Baltic states of 1918–1940. How could the continuity of the Baltic states be preserved, especially as the Soviet Union had effectively and seemingly “forever”established its control over the Baltic republics? This article focuses on the Estonian situation, laying out the events of 1944 which led to the proclamation of the new constitutional government, and after the country was for the second time occupied by the Soviet army, to the creation of an Estonian government in exile. One of the main questions asked in this article is whether and how the Estonian government in exile contributed to the preservation of the continuity of the Republic of Estonia. Both legal and political aspects played a role in the preservation of the continuity of the Republic of Estonia, and for various reasons, the role of the Estonian government in exile was not exactly that of “the” preserver of state continuity.


Author(s):  
L.V KISLITSYNA ◽  
◽  
B.V MAXIMOV ◽  

One of the priority strategic tasks of state policy is the formation of an effective competitive agro-industrial production, which becomes possible if there is the necessary financial support for agricultural enterprises. The financing process in this case is the basis for solving this problem. The article examines the process of financing an agricultural enterprise as a special process that includes financial support and the use of capital. Financial support plays a special role for an agricultural enterprise, since the use of capital is predetermined by the specifics of the activity. One of the ways to finance the agro-industrial complex is self-financing, this allows you to cover current costs, but in the long term does not allow you to increase profits due to an increase in cost. It is economically justified to use debt financing. The peculiarities of agricultural activities lead to the need for financial support from the state. The article discusses the most relevant form of support, namely, subsidizing interest rates on loans.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-174
Author(s):  
Ришат Нигматуллин

In our country, 2020 has been declared the Year of Memory and Glory by a decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. More than 25 million citizens of our country gave their lives for the Victory. The Republic of Bashkortostan made a significant contribution to the victory over fascist Germany. The names of such heroes of the Great Patriotic War as Minigali Shaimuratov, Musa Gareev, Tagir Kusimov, Dayan Murzin, Alexander Matrosov and Minigali Gubaidullin became known outside the republic and country. The article is devoted to the combat path of Dayan Bayanovich Murzin, who was an active participant in the guerrilla movement and the Resistance Movement in Czechoslovakia, the hero of Czechoslovakia. The assistance of the Red Army to the Slovak popular uprising is examined, the role of the Soviet Union in the organization of the Resistance Movement in Eastern Europe is shown.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Sławomir Godek

Some Remarks on the Role of the Third Statute of Lithuania in Courses on National Law at the Turn of the Nineteenth CenturySummary The long-term validity of the Third Lithuanian Statute of 1588 is a factor often highlighted in the scientific literature devoted to the history of the Lithuanian-Russian lands. The two and a half centuries that the codex operated have left a lasting imprint on the legal relations of these vast territories. In Belarusian lands once belonging the Republic and separated from it by the First Partition, the Statute was abolished as a consequence of the repression after the November Uprising in 1831. In the western and south-western guberniyas, the Statute survived somewhat longer; it was repealed in 1840. In academic circles, both Polish and international, the post-Partition fate of the Lithuanian codex has not yet been clarified. It seems that one aspect which is worth paying attention to in studies on the condition of the Statute after the Partitions is its role in the teaching of law in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Surviving sources, in form of the lecture courses, students’ notes, reports intended for educational authorities and examination tables leave no doubt that the Statute of Lithuania was the very basis of national law lecture courses, both at the University of Vilnius, as well as at the High School and then Lyceum in Kremenets and the Academy of Polotsk. In the lectures of Adam Powstański, Ignacy Danilowicz, Aleksander Korowicki, Józef Jaroszewicz, Ignacy Ołdakowski, and Aleksander Mickiewicz, the Statute was always depicted as one of the most important sources of national law, which maintained its currency, and whose provisions were cited most frequently to illustrate the legal institutions under discussion.


Author(s):  
Juliane Fürst

Hippies in the late Soviet Union appeared to many like creatures from a different star. Yet, a closer look reveals that the history of this movement has both short- and long-term precedents, which range from early revolutionary ideals to the generation of beatniks and Beatles fans, who were only slightly older than the wave of hippie youngsters that appeared in the late 1960s all across the Soviet Union. The introduction also situates the topic of Soviet hippies both within the history of the global hippie movement as well as in the context of late Soviet life and reality. A separate discussion is devoted to the methodology of oral history and the role of the subjective authorial voice. The introduction concludes with the overall argument of the book that the worlds of hippies and late socialism were not incompatible but in a bizarre way a good fit to each other that shaped the character of both.


2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Swirszcz

Uncovering the importance of Islam in Chechen national identity is not necessarily difficult. Alexei Malashenko has noted that Chechen identity today cannot be considered outside the context of Islamic tradition. Chechnya today is not an independent Muslim state. Its embracing of Islam came about during a time of colonization, when Chechens were struggling to halt Russian encroachment on their lands. Many works pertaining to Islam in Chechnya suggest that, at the time of Russian advancement in the eighteenth century, most Chechens were “nominally” Muslim. This has been attributed to the geographic isolation of the Caucasus. While the rugged mountainous landscape and thick forests which cover the region provided protection from invaders, it also hindered interaction among the various mountain peoples as well as the strength of outside religious influence. Soon after their defeat to the tsarist Russians, the Bolshevik Revolution occurred and Chechens spent the following 80 years under Soviet rule. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Republic of Chechnya declared independence alongside the full-fledged Soviet Socialist Republics, though their independence was not recognized by the UN. The Chechen victory over the Russian Federation in the first war in 1994–1996 has been considered a remarkable military defeat. However, a weak economy, high unemployment, and criminality caused the young nation to fall into a state of lawlessness and radicalism, eventually causing it to suffer a defeat to the Russians in the second war, which began in 1999. The present day is characterized by exhaustion and a desire for peace, a desire that ultimately has meant deference to Russian rule.


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